Manchester City were keen on signing James Maddison but ended up seeing him join Tottenham Hotspur instead.
James Maddison may have left Manchester City feeling a little frustrated after choosing to sign for Tottenham Hotspur.
That is according to the Daily Mail, who claim that City were interested in signing Maddison from Leicester City.
However, City were not able to formalise their interest because they weren’t fully sure about potential departures.
City still don’t really know if playmaker Bernardo Silva will be staying or not amid interest from Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Saudi Arabia.
That indecision meant City couldn’t move for Maddison, allowing Tottenham to pounce for an exciting deal.
Tottenham struck a deal worth £40million for Maddison, landing the midfielder after Leicester’s relegation.
Winks went the other way in a £10million deal, so Tottenham technically paid £30million plus Winks – a great move for Spurs.
Pep Guardiola has always liked James Maddison
You can certainly understand why City would have fancied landing Maddison.
The 26-year-old is a technically gifted, very creative midfielder who would suit City’s style of play.
Add in a very reasonable fee and City were clearly tempted to make a move.
City boss Pep Guardiola has been a big fan of Maddison for a while now, even going back to 2019.
Guardiola publicly hailed Maddison as an ‘incredible player’, believing he made Leicester a dangerous team.
Yet confusion over Bernardo’s future left City stalling; whilst Mateo Kovacic came in to replace Ilkay Gundogan, adding another playmaker without knowing Silva’s future seemingly wasn’t in the plans.
Tottenham will be delighted with that situation, with Ange Postecoglou now able to build his new Spurs side around a top playmaker in Maddison.
